Volumetric output of blood from the heart and/or circulatory system are of interest in various diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Such measurements are of significant interest during electrophysiological evaluation/therapy to first evaluate the extent of dysfunction due to arrhythmia and subsequently to judge the effect/effectiveness of any ablations/therapeutic procedures that are carried out on the cardiac muscle/conduction system. Iwa et al., Eur. J. Cardithorac. Surg., 5, 191–197 (1991).
Ultrasound is the imaging modality of choice, especially in cardiology, since this modality offers real-time imaging capabilities of the moving heart. Further, advances through Doppler techniques allow the physician to visualize as well as measure blood flow. Pulse wave and continuous wave Doppler have proven to be quite accurate, and an effective way of evaluating flow through various parts of the circulatory system, especially the heart. Tortoli et al., Ultrasound Med. Bio., 28, 249–257 (2002); Mohan et al., Pediatr. Cardiol. 23, 58–61 (2002); Ogawa et al., J. Vasc. Surg., 35, 527–531 (2002); Pislaru et al., J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., 38, 1748–1756 (2001).
Other technologies, including washout curves of contrast agents have been proposed to measure flow volume, especially to compensate for loss of signal quality due to imaging depth. Krishna et al., Ultrasound Med. Bio., 23, 453–459 (1997); Schrope et al., Ultrasound Med. Bio., 19, 567–579 (1993).
However, till recent advances in miniaturized ultrasonic transducers, physicians were limited to only certain angles of view, thus limiting the range and effectiveness of possible measurements. Further, given the depth of imaging required by such classical approaches, associated interrogation frequency limitations due to attenuation restricted the accuracy of measurement. Krishna et al., Phys. Med. Biol., 44, 681–694 (1999). With the recent introduction of catheter based transducers for imaging the heart from either the vena-cava or even from within the heart, such limitations on frequency of interrogation and angle of view are not applicable.
One specific need for this invention is for the permanent placement of cardiac pacing electrodes. Cardiac pacing has been around for many years, and essentially involves the placement of a permanent electrode in the right ventricle to quicken the pace of an otherwise slow heart. A new therapy has recently been introduced to the market, Which involves pacing of the left ventricle in conjunction with the right ventricle in an effort to “resynchronize” the heart, that is, to coordinate the left ventricle's contraction in time with the contraction of the right ventricle. One problem in the current therapy is the optimization of the placement of the left ventricular electrode so as to provide maximum therapy. This invention addresses this problem by providing intracardiac ultrasound imaging and ultrasound Doppler as a new tool in the placement of the electrode.